Digital Crux
by The Breaking Storm
Summary: Chapter 2 is up! Tai wakes up in the middle of a burning desert with four other children. Can he bring them out of the desert alive?
1. Chapter 1 --- Painful Memories

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***DISCLAIMER***

***READ THIS, DAMMIT!!***

Ok, gotta do one of these disclaimer things. First off, I don't own Digimon. Yeah, like you didn't see that one coming. Digimon is owned by Toei, Bandai, Disney, maybe some others, I don't know. All I know is that Digimon kicks ass. Plain and simple. Secondly, I apologize ahead of time if any of the ideas/storylines/twists-and-turns in this story resemble and/or are exactly like any other author's. I'm not plagarizing (or however you spell it); the ideas contained herein come from my brain alone. Ok, I was influenced by a couple of video games and TV shows, but other than that, they're mine, all mine!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Sorry. I'm better now.

I've seen summaries of other stories that look to have the same basic storyline as this one, but I have deliberately not read them so that I may write this story without influence from those, even subconciously. Thank you all for taking the time to listen to my ramblings.

Oh, by the way, if this story sucks bad, don't flame me too much, please? This is actually my first attempt at writing ANYTHING, except term papers, that is. Ok, on with the show! That means you can start reading it! Anytime now!

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Chapter 1 --- PAINFUL MEMORIES

One more mark. One more day. Izzy put the small knife back into his pocket and leaned back against the stone wall of his cell. Twenty-four days he had been in here, twenty-four days since those living tanks had found him hiding in an abandoned building. Not that there was such a thing as an occupied building, at least not anymore.

He closed his eyes, trying not to remember what had happened to the real world. Trying not to remember the day when the sky ripped open, the day when he had seen… Tried, but failed.

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The warmth of the sun lifted his spirits. Today was the day. Today he'd tell Sora just how he felt about her. He'd tell her how his stomach would always feel full of butterflies when she was around, and how his mouth went dry each time her beautiful brown eyes looked his way. She would listen, then laugh and tell him that she felt the same way about him. They would hold each other, kiss each other, and live happily ever after like in fairy tales. Just knowing what was about to happen made Izzy feel like dancing a jig.

The red hand became a walking man, and Izzy crossed over to the next block. Sora's mom had said she was at the park playing tennis with some friends. This would be the perfect setting for a perfect day: the green grass, the breeze blowing through the trees, the happy sounds of children playing. Perfect.

He made his way underneath the arch that proclaimed this the entry to the park, and turned to the direction of the tennis courts. He was so happy_, so ecstatic that a few times he had to stop himself from skipping. No need to ruin this day by embarrassing himself in front of complete strangers._

Izzy started to jog as the tennis courts came into view up ahead, but stopped when he realized there was no one in sight. Maybe they packed up early_, he thought. _No big deal, I'll just catch her back at her place._ Heading back the way he came, he heard a voice come from the trees to his left._

"And you thought you weren't gonna have any fun."

Izzy recognized the voice. It was Tai, his best friend ever since elementary school. When this bully named Matt had started picking on him, Tai had stepped in and Matt had stepped down. Since then, he and Tai had been almost inseparable. Izzy decided he would just say hello before going to see Sora; he had plenty of time. He walked into the trees and stopped. A blanket had been laid down on the leaf-strewn ground and on it was Tai. He had his back turned to Izzy, but it was obvious that he was making out with a girl. She was wearing a tennis skirt; Tai was rubbing her thigh as they kissed, but his shaggy brown hair was blocking Izzy's view of her face.

Bright red in the face, Izzy backed up to leave. A twig snapped under his foot. Tai turned his head to look at the intruder and Izzy saw who was with him. Like the hand to the man, Izzy's face went from red to white. The sound of his heart shattering was deafening to him; he was surprised that the two lovers weren't covering their ears.

"What's wrong, Izzy?" Sora asked, worry causing her brow to furrow.

The words just would not come. How could he tell her that his world had just been turned upside-down? That he wanted to run his finger through her gorgeous red hair, the same hair that was now matted from her 'playtime' with his best friend? Izzy turned and ran, ran as fast as he could, ran to get away from their penetrating stares.

A faint buzzing noise made him stop at the edge of the park. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he listened closely, trying to find the source of the buzzing. That was when the sky ripped open. With a deafening sound like a thunderclap, the light blue above him became darkest night. Izzy was knocked flat on the ground with the force of the blast. Staring up with bewilderment, he watched as a blood-red fissure opened up above him. Things_ emerged from the hole in the sky, things he could not put a name to. There was one that looked like a flying candle. Another had the appearance of a walking potato. Ghosts and demons, fish and fowl, all shapes and sizes. Thousands poured from this monstrous gate like a flood._

Izzy picked himself up and rushed off towards home, trying not to think about the monstrosities coming down from the sky, burning and destroying the buildings around him. His front door was ajar when he got there. He dashed in to the apartment, praying that no harm had come to his parents. In the living room, his mother and father were confronting what seemed to be several white ghosts with another hooded ghost carrying a large scythe leading them.

"You will come with us now," the scythe-bearer commanded in a harsh, raspy voice.

"You will come with me now."

Startled out of his painful memories, Izzy looked up to see a large ape-like creature standing in the doorway to his cell. With stripes of red in it's yellow fur and a large bone strapped to it's back, it looked quite fearsome. At least to anyone who hadn't seen what Izzy had. He stared at it blankly.

"Get to your feet! The master is waiting for you," it roared.

"Blow it out your ass," Izzy replied defiantly. The ape was taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered with a furious howl.

"Do you realize who you are talking to?" the ape bellowed.

Izzy laughed softly. "Yes, I'm talking to a big yellow monkey who--how can I put this delicately?--smells like something that has been pushed out the back end of a cow and left in the summer sunshine for several weeks."

Bristling with anger, the fair-furred simian cried out, "You dare mock me?! Know this, human! I am Apemon! I was made Warden of this prison by Lord Infermon himself! I am the most powerful of his generals, and I can crush you where you stand!"

"Really? Well, that's nice. If you're done blowing your own horn, would you mine getting started on that whole 'crushing' thing? I really don't like being made to wait."

With that the ape charged, swinging his bone-club over his head. Izzy closed his eyes and waited for the death and release he so longed for. But the head-crushing blow he expected never came. Izzy opened his eyes again as the yellow ape screamed out in pain and disentegrated in a cloud of small red particles. As the particles dissappeared, he saw a dark-haired boy wearing glasses standing in his cell. The boy extended his hand.

"I didn't see anyone out in the hall, but I bet someone heard Apemon's scream. C'mon, let's get out of here before they show up."

Izzy was frozen with shock. "H-how did you do that? Kill him, I mean."

"No time to explain. I'll tell you when we get out of here. By the way, my name's Joe."

"Izzy."

"Nice to meet you. Now have you taken root, or do you want to leave this place?"

"Sorry," Izzy said as he jumped up. "Lead the way."

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So, how was it? See anything you like? Don't like? I encourage feedback.

Next chapter, Tai wakes up in the middle of a desert with a group of kids who need his courage to stay alive!


	2. Chapter 2 --- Don't Drink the Water

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***DISCLAIMER***

I don't own Digimon. Other people do. I've decided to turn this into a group project, as I'm a little slow on the writing.

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Chapter 2 --- DON'T DRINK THE WATER

Tai's breath came back to him slowly. With it came a whole beach worth of sand. He pushed himself up on all fours and quickly coughed it out. Not beach sand; it was too dry. This was the gritty desert dune sand, the kind that would get into places you didn't even knew you had when the wind blew. And that's exactly where it was, too. _Just great_, he thought. He got to his knees and took a look around. Nothing but sand dunes as far as the eye could see. _How in the hell did I get here?_

A groan from his left caught his attention. It was a kid, with straight black hair and glasses, that reminded him of Joe, a med student who had lived in his apartment building. The kid looked like he had just choked on some nice, hot sand dune surprise, as well. Looking up at Tai, the kid gave a surprised cry. "I know how you feel, man. I was just thinking the same thing," Tai said as he brushed sand off of his tattered green-and-grey school uniform.

Three more shapes emerged from the sands, revealing three more kids about the same age as the glassed one. The first boy was wearing a blue hooded pullover and yellow goggles the same shape as Tai's. The second had spiky brown hair sticking up behind his visor. _His shirt looks pretty cool_, Tai thought, noting the cross-like design.

The girl was wearing a green and yellow dress. Interestingly, she had only one pigtail. "Takato, where are we? What happened?" she asked in a too-scared voice.

"Umm…" the goggle-boy murmured, looking around with his eyes wide. "Could I get back to you on that one, Jeri?"

"Dude, Kenta, what are you staring at?" asked the spike-hair. He climbed up the dune to where Kenta was just getting to his feet. "Woah, dude, who are you?" he said when he noticed Tai.

"My name's Tai," he replied.

"Kazu," the spike-hair offered as he shook Tai's outstretched hand.

Tai nodded. "Hey, nice shirt, man."

Kazu beamed. "Thanks, dude. My mom thinks I'm into religion now. She's all buying me bibles and stuff. She just doesn't understand that I got it because it looks like the Crest of Reliability."

"The what-of-what?"

"The Crest of Reliability. Don't you play the Digimon card game?"

"The what? Did you just say 'Digimon'?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, dude, it's this wicked game." Tai shook his head. Kazu looked at him askance. "You've got to have heard of it. It's only the most popular game in existence."

Tai shrugged. "No, sorry, never heard of it."

Images flashed into Tai's head. He and Sora watching Izzy run from the clearing where Tai had laid a blanket down. An unseen force felling the trees around them while everything turned an inky black. The sky tearing open in a fissure, monsters—_no, I know now that those are called Digimon_—flooding from it like the outpouring of hell from the heavens. He remembered hearing Sora scream and run off into the bushes. Alone, he had stared into the sky with horror and dread.

"Will both of you just shut up?" Jeri nearly screamed. "Who cares about that stupid game at a time like this? Look around! I went to bed last night looking forward to school the next morning, but instead I woke up fully clothed in the middle of a freaking desert!"

Takato tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she shook him off. "Just calm down, Jeri," he said. "Everything will be fine."

"How can you say that?" Jeri asked. She sank down to her knees, weeping uncontrollably. "How can you possibly say that? We're in the middle of a desert with no food or water, or even shade! We're all going to die surrounded by burning sand, and we don't even know how we got here!"

A harsh wind picked up and blew sand in Tai's face as he looked down at Jeri. _I can't blame her for freaking out like this_, he thought. _I would be too, but the things I've seen… No, better not to think about them._

"Jeri, we can't let this get us down," Tai said. "You said it yourself, we have no food, no shade or water. We'll die out here in the heat. If we want to live, we have to go find those things. And wherever we're going, I'm not gonna carry you."

Jeri looked up at Tai with look of confusion. She smiled as she wiped the tears from her face. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just scared."

"Perfectly understandable. Now come on," Tai said, glad that his little joke had pulled her from her panic. He helped Jeri to her feet. "Let's get moving."

Takato went to Jeri's side as she got up. "You okay now, Jeri?" he asked, his face full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked to Tai. "Which direction should we go?" she asked.

Tai looked around at the others. Kazu and Kenta were looking at him like some rabid fanboys, while both Jeri and Takato looked at him with hope in their eyes. It struck him as odd that they had silently yet unanimously elected him as their temporary leader. He had never met any of them until only a few minutes before, but now all were expecting him to lead them out of their strange predicament. On second thought, he was at least three years older than they were, so maybe they saw him as an older brother who was here to save them.

"Well, the wind seems to be blowing that way," he said as he pointed to his left. "We should probably head off in that direction so we're not facing into the wind. I know I've had enough sand up my nose to last me for a while." That made them all laugh. _Good_, he thought. _Good._

And so they went off into the west, the wind and the rising sun at their backs. Tai led, with Takato and Jeri just behind, and Kazu and Kenta yapping at each other at the rear. They walked for hours, the burning sun beating down on them, their clothes drenched with sweat, Kenta and Kazu occasionally falling behind as one or the other would stop to rest.

After hours of seeing nothing but sand dunes, Tai was starting to despair. _Maybe I took us in the wrong direction. Maybe if we had gone another way we would've found some water already._ He stopped and sat down to rest on the hot sand. Jeri sat with him.

Takato continued to walk up the next dune. "Takato," Tai called, his throat parched. "Stop, man, rest a bit."

Takato didn't hear. He trekked to the top of the dune and stopped. Tai called to him again. Finally, Takato jumped up and starting yelling. "You guys, we made it, we made it!"

Rushing up after him, the others stared in disbelief at the sight of a large oasis. Giant palm trees swayed in the wind and green grass pushed itself up through the sands at the edge. Roaring with glee, the five companions rushed down into the verdant shade below. "You guys," Kenta said once they were in the trees, "I can see a lake."

They all ran to the lake and fell down by the waters to drink. Kazu went so far as to plunge his entire head in. "Gah, that's cold!" he yelled. Everyone laughed and splashed him, which of course turned into a huge water fight. For a moment the five companions forgot about their troubles and reveled in the sheer joy of living. Several minutes later, they all lay back on the grass to dry off, watching the wind whip through the trees.

"So, what did Jeri mean when she said that she was looking forward to school today?" Tai asked Takato. They sat a little ways off from the others after Kazu, Kenta, and Jeri had all fallen asleep.

"What do you mean 'what do you mean'?"

"Well, you guys are from Tokyo, right?

"Yeah," Takato replied. "West Shinjuku."

"And you guys were supposed to go to school today?" Tai asked.

"Well, yeah," Takato answered, looking confused. "Why wouldn't we? I mean, it's the middle of November."

Now it was Tai's turn to look thoroughly perplexed. "November? Dude, it's July. Besides, all of Tokyo was destroyed three months ago."

Takato recoiled in shock. "What the hell are you talking about? Tokyo hasn't been destroyed! I live there! I was there yesterday!"

"Takato, it's been completely destroyed. For the past three months I've been traveling north. Last night I slept in a park in Utsunomiya. The Digimon have built a massive fortress where Tokyo used to be. You can see it even from Utsunomiya."

"From Utsunomiya? But that's like eighty kilometers from Tokyo." A thought struck Takato. "Wait a minute. _Digimon_ built the fortress? That's just not possible. Digimon is just a game."

"I don't know about a game, but Digimon are most definitely real." Tai told Takato about how the sky had ripped open and the Digimon invaded Tokyo. He went on to tell him about how he found out that the monsters were called Digimon when he had overheard two of the monsters, a small blue tadpole-like monster named Otamamon and a little yellow slug-thing name Geremon, while hiding in a van a couple of days after the invasion.

"They were talking about how their Lord—Infermon, I think it was—had slaughtered most of the humans in Tokyo, while a small group had been taken prisoner."

"Wow," Takato finally said after a few minutes of silence, "that's just… Hey, I just had a thought. What if, like, we're from different worlds, you know, like that one time on Star Trek? What if you and I are from alternate universes or something? I mean, that would explain why I don't remember any of that. I doubt Jeri and the guys remember any it either. And you didn't know anything about Digimon until you overheard those two."

"Maybe…"

A bubbling noise emanating from the lake broke the conversation. Out of the depths came a large yellow frog, with both red fur and black fins sticking up from it's back. "Dude, it's a Gizamon!" Takato exclaimed.

"A what?" Tai asked.

"Gizamon," Takato replied. "A Rookie-level Digimon."

"What the hell does 'Rookie-level' mean?"

Takato opened his mouth to reply, but the Gizamon cut him off. "What are you humans doing here at my lake?"

"I guess I'll explain later," said Takato.

Tai turned to the Gizamon. "What do you mean 'your lake'? We've got just as much right to be here as you."

"Tai, calm down," Takato said. "Look, Gizamon, we're sorry if we've trespassed, but we've been walking across the desert all day, and we really needed some water, so---"

"So you just decided to steal some from my lake," the Gizamon cried.

"No, that's not it at all…" Takato was cut short as the Gizamon rolled itself into a ball with the fins pointing out.

"Spiral Saw!" it yelled. Its entire body started spinning fast, then charged itself into Takato.

"Aaagh!" Takato yelled as was knocked to the ground.

Tai was stunned. "Takato, no!"

The others all woke up at Tai's cry. Jeri screamed, "What's happening? Tai, what's happening?"

All of a sudden, Tai felt a great warmth inside. It was like a million fires burning him up. A blast of light shot forth from his chest. As he screamed, the world seemed to go white as he was caught in an explosion of energy. When things began to come back into focus, he thought that the shocking stares of the others must mirror his own. "What the hell was that?" he cried.

Jeri was trembling visibly. "Y-y-you're a-a…"

"What?"

"Dude," Kenta and Kazu said together in awe. "You're an Agumon."

"A what?"

Tai looked down at himself. The first thing he noticed was that his skin was orange. Not skin, scales! His arms ended in reptilian claws, and he saw that he had gotten shorter. He only came up to Jeri's waist! He stepped over to the lake and looked at his reflection. "I'm a lizard!" he exclaimed. "I'm a tiny orange T-Rex!"

The Gizamon looked at Tai with contempt. "I don't know how you did that, human, but you are still a thief, and thieves must be punished! Spiral Saw!"

As the Gizamon spun towards him, it seemed to Tai as if the whole world had slowed down. Knowledge flooded into him, and he smiled inwardly as he felt the burning yet comforting fire materialize in the back of his throat. "Pepper Breath!" Agumon yelled (for that was how he thought of himself in this form), and shot a ball of burning flame from his mouth. It hit the Gizamon and sent it spiraling in the opposite direction, hitting a tree.

Takato pulled himself up to his elbows. "Woah, that's pretty freaking cool."

"Damn skippy, my friend," Kazu replied. "Damn skippy."

The Gizamon got up to its four webbed feet. "Think you've beaten me, do you? Think again!"

A bright light engulfed the violent Digimon. "Gizamon digivolve to… Ebidramon!"

The light faded. Where the Gizamon had stood was now a giant red lobster with a dragon-like head. "Okay," Agumon yelled, "this is just getting too fucking weird!"

"Dude, he digivolved!" Kenta exclaimed.

The Ebidramon roared as it balanced itself on its back legs and large tail. It lunged at Jeri, its enormous claw ready to strike. Kenta tried to pull her away, but she stood frozen in shock. Jeri screamed as Ebidramon's claw clamped around her middle, trying to squeeze the life out of her.

"Jeri!" Takato screamed.

Yet another burst of light shot forth, this time from Takato's chest. A small explosion of white, and Takato was also transformed into a lizard. His scales were red instead of orange, and he was at least a foot taller than Agumon. Bands of black scales encircled his forearms, thighs, and neck, while triangular designs were set on his hands, feet, and snout. A strange symbol comprised of two perpendicular lines surrounded by two circles seemed to have been burnt onto his white belly.

"You did it too, Takato!" Kenta exclaimed. "But I've never seen that kind of Digimon before."

"Not Takato," the small red dinosaur replied. "My name is Guilmon."

Ebidramon dropped the screaming Jeri and turned its attention to the two Rookies. "You think you can take me on, do you? Your pathetic attacks can't hurt me! I am more powerful than either of you combined!"

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon's fireball hit Ebidramon on the head directly between his eyes. The lobster showed no sign of the attack except for a small scorch-mark. Agumon saw a blur out of the corner of his eye as Guilmon ran past him and jumped up to swipe at Ebidramon with his claws. Ebidramon knocked Guilmon out of the air with ease, sending him flying into the waters.

Ebidramon leapt into the air towards where Guilmon floated on the surface of the lake, his jaws opened in a bestial yell. Guilmon looked up into the massive maw and yelled, "Pyro Sphere!" A fireball, larger and darker than Agumon's, surged from Guilmon's mouth and shot directly down Ebidramon's throat. The dragon-lobster screamed in pain as the fire burned him from the inside. As his shell burst into flame, the fire was doused by the waters of the lake. Unfortunately for Ebidramon, it was too late. The monster's sightless eyes stared at Guilmon as the corpse slowly sank. Guilmon gazed for a moment at the spot where Ebidramon had gone down, then hurriedly made his way towards shore.

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_Next chapter, Izzy and Joe try to break out of prison!_


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